After being cooped up indoors for what seemed like forever, many people are trying to find more reasons to spend time in their backyard. For this reason, many may be considering taking on backyard projects to make the space more fun and useful for their family. One thing you may want to consider is transforming your backyard into a more eco-friendly space. That way, your family can benefit without negatively impacting the environment. Below are a few strategies for creating an energy-efficient backyard haven.
Incorporate Solar Powered Light Fixtures
For many reasons, you may want to install outdoor lighting. For one, it will allow you and your family to continue enjoying the backyard even after the sun has gone down. In other cases, outdoor lighting can help provide home security. Burglars and criminals tend to avoid homes that have such lighting. Thankfully, you can incorporate outdoor lighting into your backyard without having to draw more energy from the local power grid. Instead, you can utilize solar-powered light fixtures. Such light fixtures are attached to batteries with tiny solar panels. During the day, these panels charge the batteries by soaking up the rays of the sun. After the sun goes down, they have the energy needed to provide your yard with light. They are both economical and environmentally friendly.
Install an Energy Efficient Hot Tub
Another way to get a lot of enjoyment out of your backyard is to install a hot tub. Unfortunately, hot tubs have traditionally required a lot of energy to run their jets and keep the water warm. If you want the comfort of a hot tub for your loved ones without the impact on your carbon footprint, you can instead choose to purchase a soft tub hot tub. This is a newer design for hot tubs that are constructed out of high-density foam. The material is extremely strong, yet lightweight. This allows for easy transport, unlike traditional hot tubs that stay where they are once installed. Better yet, they are environmentally friendly and use a heat transfer method to save on energy waste. Running such a hot tub will only cost your family about $10 a month in energy costs.
Install an Artificial Lawn
It may seem counter-productive, but one way to help the environment may be to remove plant life, specifically grass, from your yard. Installing artificial grass can have many green benefits. This is especially the case if you live in a state that routinely experiences water shortages like California and Arizona. Maintaining grass in your yard requires a lot of water. Secondly, installing an artificial lawn can lower the carbon emissions that are released into the air. This is because the lawn won’t need to be mowed by a gas-powered lawn mower. It is true that in the past many kinds of AstroTurf were made from synthetic materials that could not be recycled. However, today there are many choices for artificial lawns made mostly from recyclable materials. Having an artificial lawn also means not having to use chemicals like weedkillers, fertilizers, or pesticides in your yard. Indeed, artificial grass does not produce oxygen, but on such a small scale, the benefits outweigh the dangers.
Start an Eco-Friendly Garden
Another great way to take advantage of your backyard is to start a garden. Gardening is in itself a rather eco-friendly activity since cultivating your food means you don’t have to buy it from the store. However, there are steps you can take to make gardening activities even more environmentally friendly. Instead of buying harmful chemical fertilizers, use natural sources such as animal farm waste. You can also create your own compost pile that will allow you to transform things like food scraps that would have gone into the garbage into a natural fertilizer. Start using rain barrels to collect water for your garden. Use natural pesticides like garlic and rhubarb leaves in place of dangerous chemical pesticides. “Slug rings” made out of copper that does not harm the environment can be used to keep slugs at bay.
You and your family should try to get the most out of your backyard. However, to do so, you do not have to add extra strain to the environment. Instead, implementing environmentally-friendly suggestions like those listed above can allow you to enjoy your yard and protect Mother Nature at the same time.
